This 24-nation European–US study (1999–2000) of the democratic political values, attitudes, and behavior of adolescents uncovers a generally high level of self-predicted future political participation as adults. Four of five14-year-olds regard themselves as future voters, and 61% predict involvement in protest activities. Moreover, law breaking as an act of protest is almost as attractive in th...

Political interest is a crucial precursor to political engagement, but little is known about how to stimulate greater interest. The article explores the role social motives have in generating interest. A laboratory experiment is used in which it is possible to manipulate beliefs about the social rewards of political engagement as well as external efficacy beliefs. Across two types of measures f...

Usingdata fromthe2000NationalAnnenbergElectionSurvey, this study looksat the relationshipsbetween Internet access andonlineexposure to information about the presidential campaign and political efficacy, knowledge, and participation. Results show that Internet access and online exposure to information about the presidential campaign are significantly associated with these important political var...

Recently, the call to combine land change science (LCS) and political ecology (PE) in the study of human-environment interactions has been widely discussed by scientists from both subfields of geography. In this paper, we use a hybrid ecology framework to examine the effects of conservation policies on the environment and the livelihood of the people of the Korup National Park (KNP). Using tech...

The literature offers two strategies for voters to apply when voting in elections: delegation and accountability. Most electoral research indicates that voters are becoming more volatile and parties more alike, which makes delegation a difficult task. But if voters are becoming more interested in the second strategy – ex post controls – it appears other institutional characteristics are likely ...

The contention that femininity makes women unsuited for political participation has roots in feminist theory and political science. This study investigated whether the desirable and undesirable dimensions of femininity, corresponding to Feminine Interpersonal Relations (FIR: warmth, nurturance, and interpersonal appeal) and Feminine Self-Doubt (FSD: submissiveness, self-doubt, anxiety, and pass...

Some studies have contended that direct democracy has secondary benefits unrelated to its impact on policy. In particular, recent scholarship claims that the American ballot initiative process enhances political efficacy. We began with concerns about the logic and empirical methods underlying this conclusion. We connect this research to the broader political psychology literature and in doing s...